let's get the obvious out of the way first. every single player on NE's offensive line was dominated thoroughly and completely. they didn't play well individually or as a unit.

conceding that, we all know that brady's quick trigger and phonebooth mobility has long been the key to dealing with the pass rush. it's not like NE hasn't seen fearsome front fours and blitzes before. brady just wasn't there much last night--or at least he came and went drive by drive. it was bizarre. when he did get time he missed WIDE open throws. he rarely hit his receivers in stride even on the underneath stuff.  for example, in the first half moss broke open downfield and brady missed him by a mile. on the 2nd touchdown, moss was wide open on the first down play and brady missed him by a mile again, with only moderate pressure. think NE could've used the time it took to run the two extra plays at the end?

it's easy to forget that each of NE's superbowl victories came by one score. in each instance it was NE who made the big play, or at least avoided the big mistake. in this game all i'll remember about NE's performance were its protection breakdowns and assante samuel's roberto duran-like "hands of stone" on a sure interception that would have iced away a game they didn't really deserve to win. (think of how david tyree's life would be different right now had samuel caught that gift int. based on manning's griping it looks like tyree broke that route off early.)